BUSINESS MEETINGS
1367 Words
NAILA'S POV
Goosebumps prickled my skin and I broke into a cold sweat.
Everyone was looking at me. I could feel cold accusing eyes burning into me from all corners of the room.
It felt like I had failed on my first day. And I couldn't afford that, not after the scrutiny I had already received. I couldn't afford another mark against me.
How did this happen? I had made sure that I had put all the files and sent some to their various departments for reviews.
I gave the file to the financial team andㅡ
The realization dawned on me. Paul had collected the files yesterday for a final review and had handed them back to me this morning. I had barely gone through the folder as I felt sick and didn't expect them to edit anything.
Wait …did I see the financial addendum?
My stomach churned and I straightened, brows furrowing.
“Where's the file?” Lila spoke up from her chair, her voice hard.
I snapped out of my daze and looked up at her, my heart thrumming loudly in my chest. “The finance team…”
Remy frowned. “What?”
“The finance team. This must be a mistake on their part in the arrangements of the files. I deeply apologize for this mistake.”
Lila scoffed, clearly looking for a way to push the blame on me. “It's still your fㅡ”
“Actually,” Remy suddenly spoke up, stepping closer to the table. “I take full responsibility for what just happened. Since she's my new executive assistant, I didn't brief her properly on the documents that need to be cross checked before meetings.”
My eyes widened slightly.
What was he doing?
I opened my mouth to refuteㅡ to say that it wasn't his fault. But Elias beat me to it.
“That's understandable, you should learn to do everything in full measure though. You made your staff look bad for a second.” Elias pointed to me, a slight smile on his lips.
Oh.
He was also trying to exonerate me from the public eye too.
Remy sent him a hard grin. “Thank you, Mr Elias.”
Elias didn't look away from me. “Don't worry about it. You can submit it in two days when we have another meeting. It's the holidays, feel free to be lax about it. I think everyone is still a bit queasy from the whole preparations.”
Everyone at the table muttered a few agreements, the tension beginning to lessen as people packed up their laptops and documents.
I stepped away from Remy to the side of the room, bowing slightly and muttering apologies to everyone who walked out of the conference room.
Elias didn't go out immediately though. He stopped right beside me and looked down at me. “Don't beat yourself about it.”
I bit back words and nodded stiffly. “I appreciate your understanding, sir.”
Keep it formal. He'll get the hint and back off.
He didn't.
Typical.
“You're still in the early stage of what I like to call JITTERS.” He crossed his arms, his voice low as his employees continued to file out of the room.
My brows scrunched together. “Jitters?”
He nodded, looking as though I was supposed to know what he was talking about. “Yes. Job induced transitional tension and executive role shock.”
The smug look on his face let me know he thought he had made the funniest joke of the decade. All I could manage was a small, “Ah.”
He laughed, reaching out to place a hand on my shoulder but he paused just in time and let his hand drop to his side. “Seriously. Don't be nervous.”
Irritation bubbled up in me and I forced a smile. “I'm not nervous.”
That sounded condescending. Like he was thinking I couldn't handle this job. Was that why he was trying to help? Because he thought this was a lot for me? It wasn't.
“Sure you're not.” He brushed off my words.
“I just need more rest, I think. I'm kind of sick at the moment.”
That got his attention. “Oh really? Then so be it. Get some rest. If you change your mind about what I said earlier…” he grinned. “Call me.”
Then he was walking out.
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and turned to see Remy staring intently at where Elias just stood.
My heart skipped and I cleared my throat. “Mr Sterling?”
He snapped out of his daze from where he was slightly leaning on the table. “Oh right. Come here.”
Lila was still sitting there, her arms crossed as she regarded me.
Remy pulled the laptop to himself. “Felt like you were busy there for a second.”
I opened my mouth to defend myself and say Elias was the one who cornered me but I swallowed back the words. There was no use doing that.
“Losing the file was a terrible move, Naila. I'm not going to lie. It could have cost us a lot.”
Lila chirped up. “And then she blamed finance for her mistake.”
I snapped my neck to look at her. “Because it's not in the finance file!”
A smirk cut across her faceㅡ knowing. Soft. I didn't like the look of it. “If you weren't so lazy, you would know it's saved in the Sensitive and exposure summary folder. But you're so incompetent that you couldn't check that folder.”
Remy sighed, palming his face. “Watch your words, Lila. This was a general mistake.”
But I was already pulling the laptop closer and scrolling through the folders, my heart thrumming under my skin.
I clicked on the folder and my heart dropped when I saw the file I was looking for.
How didㅡ
“It's not supposed to be here.” I whispered to myself.
Lila stood up, tucking her hair behind her ear. “And you want to blame us? For your mistake? Apologize.”
Anger boiled in my veins like a volcano waiting to erupt. That wasn't what I had saved it as. I instantly knew what had happenedㅡ She had changed the file name to confuse me.
Fucking b***h.
“There's no need for any sort of apologㅡ” Remy started to cut in, obviously sensing the tense air beginning to cloud over the room.
“ㅡ I apologize.” I deadpanned, cutting him off.
The look on her face was pure statisfaction.
I didn't wait to see more.
“Excuse me.” I quickly scurried out of the room.
Just before I could turn the hallway to the elevator, I heard a voice. “Naila!”
Elias.
I stopped in my tracks and spun around to look at me, a frown pulling at my lips. “What?”
His expression changed to one of concern. Like he could see the anger on my face. The way I was hunched over. “You okay?”
A choked sound escaped me and I sighed. “What do you want me to say?” I muttered, my voice low this time.
Like I was too tired to even argue.
He stepped closer but I took another step back, keeping the space between us. Would be terrible if an employee saw us that close and suspected that something was going on between us.
He stopped right in his tracks, raising his hand in surrender. “Sorry about that. Look…you need some air. To take your mind off things and I wanna help with that.”
When I didn't respond, he continued talking. “Look, it's not a date. Think of it like an extension of the merger. You'll represent your boss tomorrow at 1pm with me. That good?”
I didn't even know how to articulate my words to reject his offer.
So I said the only answer that came to mind. “Okay.”
- Writer
